Barbarism in Iraq

Monday

Aug 4, 2014 at 6:00 AM

In the cradle of civilization, barbarism holds sway.

The Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, the Sunni extremists who have captured swathes of Syria and northern Iraq, on July 24 blew up a mosque in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul that has long been believed to be the burial site of the biblical prophet Jonah.

Taking advantage of the power vacuums in Syria and Iraq, both of which have been riven by years of sectarian conflict, ISIS has captured several major cities in the region, and imposed sharia law.

But the group's positive initial reception appears to be souring. The New York Times reported Thursday the destruction of Jonah's tomb by ISIS forces has angered many in the city, who rallied to the site of an ancient minaret, preventing its destruction, at least for now.

The fine theological differences that divide Sunnis and Shi'ites are largely lost on most Americans and many outside Islam, just as the many divisions among Christians may strike other faiths and people as inexplicable and outdated.

But whatever one's religious views, a hallmark of civilized peoples around the globe has long been a respect for ancient civilizations and sites sacred to other faiths and cultures than one's own.

Sadly, we have witnessed similar desecrations many times, even in recent years. In March 2001, the Taliban dynamited and largely destroyed the Buddhas of Bamiyan, two monumental statues carved into sandstone cliffs in a region of central Afghanistan in the sixth century.

These attacks share a dreary common theme — the attempt to erase history in the pursuit of extremism.

In the long run, such efforts fail. Rulers rise and fall, usurpers are themselves displaced. Civilization itself endures. But it is impoverished for such losses as these.

ISIS — like the Taliban in Afghanistan or the Boko Haram in Nigeria — represent humanity at its worst, rulers who have forgotten that power must be tempered with wisdom and respect for both the living and the dead.

It is up to the people of Mosul to remind their new masters of those truths.